Bob Saget: A cultural icon and why we loved him

Bob Saget will always be remembered as Danny Tanner

Actor and C0median Bob Saget was found dead on Sunday, January 9 in his hotel room at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Florida. His death comes a little over a week after Betty White left the world at age 99 and a few days after 91 year old Sidney Poitier died. For decades now, at the beginning of each New Year, there is always at least one unexpected death of a popular celebrity and in some cases, there will be two or three who die back to back.

According to TMZ the Hotel security had found the entertainer unresponsive in his room and both the Sheriff's and the fire department responded to the hotel around 4 PM ET. Saget was pronounced dead on the scene, but the cause of his death is not yet clear.

Saget was only 65 and three decades behind the other actors who recently passed away. He was beloved for his role as Danny Tanner in the hit sitcom Full House which ran on ABC from 1987-1995. For many fans of the show, the actor will always be Danny, the single father who was raising his three daughters regardless of his other contributions to the world of entertainment.

Danny Tanner and Bob Saget were not one and the same

On Full House Tanner's wife, Pam had died in a car crash that was caused by a drunk driver. The entire situaiton of the widow left raising three girls because someone was driving drunk endured the family to the fans. Sitcom viewers got to watch the children grow up on screen and felt as if they were a part of their own families. Candace Cameron Bure portrayed BJ Tanner, Jodie Sweetin played Stephanie, and the role of Michelle was shared by the Olsen twins Mary Kate and Ashley.

Often sitcom viewers become overly invested in television characters and can forget that the people who portray them live completely different lives off-screen. They may also take on roles that are completely unlike their popular characters. This was the case with Saget whose comedy routines and later work was often oriented for adult audiences and not those who will forever consider him as the widowed father of three daughters.

Bob Saget history and later years

Saget was born in Philadelphia Pennsylvania on May 17, 1956, to Jewish parents. He briefly worked for The Morning Program on CBS in early 1987, until he became a part of the cast in Full House. The show became a hit with family viewers and in 1989, Saget became the host of America's Funniest Home Videos, until 1997. During the early 1990s, the actor worked on both shows simultaneously and he returned to AFV for the one-hour 20th-anniversary special which was co-hosted with Tom Bergeron.

In 1996 Saget directed the ABC television movie For Hope, which was inspired by the life and death of his sister, Gay Saget, who died from scleroderma in 1993. He directed his first feature film, Dirty Work, in 1998 which starred Artie Lange and Norm Macdonald. It was released in 1998 and received mostly negative critics reviews and did not do well at the box office.

Dirty Work has now become a cult classic, in part because of Artie Lange's popularity on The Howard Stern Show where the film has been mentioned on occasions but not always in a positive manner. In 1998, Saget made a cameo appearance as a cocaine addict in the comedy movie Half Baked.

Fifteen years prior to Full House Saget began doing a comedy routine but by the time the sitcom ended, he said he had lost his comedic gene. In order to regain his mojo so to speak, he began performing at Phat Tuesday's, a recurring, African American comedy show that is held at the famous Comedy Store in Hollywood.

Saget was one of the only white comedians in the midst of black talent like Wanda Sykes, Bernie Mac, and Cedric the Entertainer. Bob says being in this environment caused him to be "forced back to form", and he fell in love all over again. He says the audience accepted him and that in this type of circumstance "You'll know if you're funny."

Saget was not one of those actors who ran from being typecast as he returned as Tanner in the reboot Netflix series Fuller House which ran for five years. He reprised his role in the February 26, 2016 debut and was also in the final episode in June of 2020. The beloved icon was married to Sherri Kramer from 1982–1997 when they divorced. He married Kelly Rizzo in 2018 and was with her at the time of his death. Saget had three children, Aubrey Saget, Lara Melanie Saget, and Jennifer Belle Saget.

Full House came about at a time where values more wholesome values were being emphasized on television. Audiences wanted to see happy families onscreen even if they were not a part of one themselves. Bob Saget as Danny Tanner struggled to raise his daughters without a wife and it touched the hearts of those who enjoyed the sitcom. For many of Saget's fans he will always be the iconic mild-mannered Danny who made a home for his children in a nontraditional setting that was full of love.